Nissan Quest (1997)

Everyone who rode in the Quest loved it. It's very comfortable. It's quiet, though it does have considerable wind noise at high speed. I don't know if it's characteristic of all of them or just the one we test drove. My wife noticed that it was as noisy as her Caravan at 65 mph, though it handles a lot better than her Caravan (a '92)--but not better than the brand-new Caravans. (Until the '96 model, the handling of the Caravans and Voyagers was quite awful.)

The folks riding in the way-back? They're in serious trouble. There's no leg room back there. Okay for kids, but not for humans.

It handles well, it's a decent size and it has adequate power. Not a bad choice for a minivan.

I did notice a slight "tap-tap-tap" of the valves, which a lot of Nissan V6s have. Weak lifters, I guess. It didn't bother me, though--I just drove the thing. Sometimes it went away and sometimes it didn't. I actually checked the ALL DATA Technical Service Bulletins, and according to Nissan this tapping is due (they say) to overfilling of the crankcase. Could be.

Mercury sells a version of the same van under the name Mercury Villager.